The City of York Council has announced the introduction of a new CCTV road safety camera car to be used near schools in York to improve the safety of children on their journey to and from school.
This will be welcome news for parents of children attending schools in the Hull Road area, especially at Badger Hill school where the before/after school run has become a daily maelstrom of cars fighting for space - thus endangering the safety of children.
Full release from CYC as follows:
New road safety camera car for schools
City of York Council is introducing a new CCTV road safety camera car to help make children safer on their journey to and from school.
The car will patrol the area immediately outside schools at pick-up and drop-off times, issuing £70 Fixed Penalty Notices to cars parked illegally – and unsafely – from next month.
The scheme is being brought in following concerns from head teachers about dangerous parking outside their schools and forms part of a wider initiative – the Parents’ Parking Pledge – which encourages parents and carers across York to pledge their support to parking safely and considerately when taking their children to and from school.
Whilst similar ‘Parking Promise’ schemes have helped to raise awareness in schools in other areas across the UK, such as Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, alone they do not completely prevent parents/carers from parking inappropriately.
The use of CCTV camera cars has proven successful in other authorities in deterring illegal parking and thereby increasing safety around schools. It will also be able to visit schools more frequently than enforcement officers alone are able to do.
Cllr Janet Looker, Cabinet Member for Children’s Service at City of York Council, said: “Over the past 20-years the percentage of children travelling to school by car nationally has doubled. In York around 30 per cent of primary and 10 per cent of secondary school children are now driven to school, the majority of these journeys are less than one mile.
“Working with schools and parents we hope to further highlight that there are other options available than driving to school, but if parents choose this option then we want to encourage them to do this safely and join this scheme to make children feel safer on their way to and from school.
“Many head teachers have expressed concerns to us about the inappropriate parking outside their schools and in response to these concerns we are introducing the road safety camera car. However, we hope that by highlighting the Parking’ Parents Promise scheme it will help raise even more awareness and help further reduce poor parking around schools.”
Jane Nellar, head teacher of St.Lawrence C of E VA Primary School, said: “We all want our children to be safe; if this initiative saves the life, or prevents the injury, of even one child and makes drivers think carefully about where to park, then it will have had a great impact.”
Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick, of North Yorkshire Police, said: “I am very pleased that North Yorkshire Police are supporting this campaign which I know is very important to parents with young children at school.
“It is really important that the roads around schools are as safe as possible and hopefully this campaign will prompt people to be more considerate and bear the safety of children in mind.
“It’s great that the children at schools in the City of York are getting involved in promoting the scheme and I would encourage as many people as possible to take part, back the campaign and help make our children safer.”
• To find out more about the Road Safety Camera Car please visit: www.york.gov.uk/schoolparking
• For more information on travel to school visit: www.itravelyork.info
Ends
Background information on the Parents’ Parking Promise:The promise encourages even more parents and carers to park responsibly around schools or consider using other modes of transport such as walking, cycling or bus journeys (lead through the council’s i-Travel York initiative) to help children travel to and from school safely.
The promise asks everyone that signs up to:
• not park on zig zag or double yellow lines
• not park on pavements
• park carefully and considerately
• consider walking or cycling to schools, or take part in the Park&Stride (if the school has this one) and parka short distance away from the school and walk the remaining bit – which are both healthier alternatives.
By signing up to the scheme and completing the Parking Promise form parents/carers will then recieve a car badge, which is unique to their children’s school, which demonstrates their commitment to parking responsibly and hopes to further strengthen their support to the scheme.
